1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector, and more particularly to a flat-conductor connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
A known example of connectors that are used in electronic devices is a connector that is mounted on a substrate and that electrically connects a flexible flat cable (FFC), a flexible printed circuit (FPC), or the like (that will be referred to as a flat conductor in the present specification and in the claims) to the substrate. Such connectors are mounted in numerous electronic devices because these connectors can connect internal units of devices such as computers and liquid crystal displays to substrates in various ways.
When a flat conductor and a substrate are electrically connected to each other, a locking member may sometimes be provided in order to prevent the flat conductor that has been inserted into a connector from accidentally coming out of the connector. For example, the electrical connector described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2012-256483 (FIG. 11, FIG. 13, FIG. 14, FIG. 15), which will hereinafter be referred to as Patent Document 1, is provided with locking members that are different members from a housing and each of which is formed by bending, for example, a thin-plate-shaped metal member.
The electrical connector described in Patent Document 1 has a configuration in which the locking members are elastically displaced when a flat conductor (a signal transmission medium), such as an FPC or an FFC, is inserted into the electrical connector and in which engagement positioning portions of the flat conductor are engaged with engagement locking portions of the locking members as a result of the flat conductor being inserted further deeply into the electrical connector, so that the flat conductor is prevented from coming out of the electrical connector. However, in the electrical connector described in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to provide the locking members, which are made of a metal and used for fixing the flat conductor inserted into the electrical connector, on the housing as separate members from the housing, and thus, the number of components and the number of assembly steps increase.